Billy Cub Is All Right In My Book

According to Sunday’s Chicago Tribune*, and lots of other reports elsewhere (here is a good one), the Cubs have sued “Billy Cub,” the free-lance mascot who hangs out around Wrigley Field taking pictures with fans and soliciting donations.  According to the Tribune article, the Cubs are claiming that Billy Cub “seek[s] to hustle … fans for tips” and has engaged in “inappropriate” actions.  I go to a lot of Cubs games (for reasons that are totally unclear given how well they are playing), and I have never seen Billy Cub engage in any inappropriate activity.  When we took the picture with Billy Cubs that appears on this blog, I was more than happy to give him a $5 tip.  That seemed a better way spend my money than to pay $5.50 for a hot dog inside the park – or $4.50 for a bottle of water you can buy outside the park for a buck.

The Cubs also alleged, in the words of the Tribune article, that Billy Cub has damaged “the goodwill” of the Cubs.  Given that this is a trademark infringement lawsuit, I realize that the “goodwill” they are talking about is goodwill in a trademark law sense.  Still, this is a “hanging curveball” in terms of commenting on what the Cubs are doing here:

• Is Billy Cub hurting the “goodwill” of the Cubs more than trading away two good starting pitching (while paying Edwin Jackson $52 million for four years) in 2012, 2013, and 2014?
• Is Billy Cub hurting the “goodwill” of the Cubs more than a team executive who asks a Greek priest to spread holy water around the Cubs dugout before a playoff game – and then says it was the priest’s idea to do it, when it was really his?
• Is Billy Cub hurting the “goodwill” of the Cubs more than a team ownership that constantly promises they are going to fix up Wrigley Field and still hasn’t gotten started?

I do understand the logic of the first bullet point (though 2014 had better be the last year).  As for the second and third bullet points, I’ll take Bill Cub any day.
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* It seems to only be in the print edition of the Tribune: Mark Gonzales, "Cubs Bits: Olt, Lake get rare starts," Chicago Tribune, July 20, 2014, section 3, page 4.

UPDATE (7/20/14 12:18 pm): Fixed a grammatical error in the third bullet point.

Comments

[Jennie]

Are they also planning to kick out Ronnie Woo Woo?

[Pat Allen]

Only if the Rooftops want him to stay.